Sanding Our Wooden Floorbaords

That yucky pink carpet needed to go (and you can't even see the unmentionable stains on it - lucky you!). Given that two gorgeous girlies will be sharing one of the split-bedrooms, I foresee many {many} future beauty product-related spillages. I remember tipping over a bottle of nail varnish on my parent's brand new carpet in my teeneage boudoir....and the less said about burns from hair straighteners the better....

Sooooo, we went with the wood option. Underneath this carpet and underlay was a layer of hardboard...and then, I was thrilled to find, gorgeous wooden boards in excellent condition.

We called in outside help for sanding the floors. It's a job that can be horribly messy in the wrong hands {mine!}so I was glad not to have to do it ourselves. Getting everything ready was a complete upheaval. We decided to have the whole of the middle floor sanded, which meant storing furniture and toys and books and games and beds and bedding and mattresses from three very full children's bedrooms.

When old wooden floors are first sanded, they look all shiny and clean and new, so I knew I wanted to stain them to ensure the colour looked aged and mellow. The company we used recommended Colron's Wood Dyes, which come in a variety of colours. 

We picked Medium Oak, which left our floors looking EXACTLY how I'd hoped colour-wise. Huzzah!!

And then they were sealed with matt varnish. I know some people go mad for high gloss but I love the gentle sheen that this look gives.

On the down side, it has left a large gap between the skirting board and floor in one of the bedrooms that will needs adjusting...

....but overall I am v. v. pleased!